Devlog 1 - 7 Juli 2024

Hey everyone! 🌟 I’m thrilled to share my progress on a new game project: Space Hunter! This is a quick game design sprint, and I’m documenting my thought process as I iterate on the concept.

Initial Idea: Classic Space Battles (Too Complex! 😅)

I started with a classic space shooter concept, featuring a variety of enemy types with unique behaviors:

• Normal Enemies: Basic foes that fire standard bullets.

• Quick Enemies: Agile ships that launch homing missiles (blockable by shield).

• Splitter Enemies: Upon destruction, they split into smaller enemies firing homing missiles.

• Heavy Enemies: Heavily armored with shields, requiring charged bullets to bypass their evasion maneuvers.

• Sniper Enemies: Long-range foes with slow movement, firing powerful bullets that pierce shields.

Player Abilities:

• Speed Up: Boost your ship’s agility for evasive maneuvers.

• Normal Bullets: Your primary weapon for engaging enemies.

• Explosive Bullets: Deal heavy area-of-effect damage.

• Homing Missiles: Lock onto targets for automatic tracking.

• Charge Shot: Unleash a powerful blast after charging.

• Evade QTE: Perform a quick dodge to avoid enemy attacks.

Power-Ups:

• Shielding: Grant temporary protection against enemy fire.

• Stun Bullets: Temporarily disable enemy movement and attacks.

Special Mechanic: Time Space Superiority Attack (Most Overpowered attack but got so loooooong cooldown and it Cool! 😎)

This ambitious ability was ultimately deemed too complex for the one-day sprint. It allowed teleporting near an enemy and firing a customizable barrage of bullets after a successful evade.

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New Idea: Space Hunter (A Dark and Tense Stealth Experience! 🌌)

To create a more manageable and engaging prototype within the timeframe, I pivoted to a stealth-focused concept:

• Immersive Darkness: Space is a vast and dark environment, creating a tense atmosphere where visibility is limited.

• Strategic Use of Sonar: Your ship relies on sonar for brief glimpses of surroundings, revealing enemy signatures at the expense of potentially alerting them.

• Trackable Signatures: Movement and weapon use leave traceable signatures for a limited time, making stealth crucial.

• Special Events:

• Supernova Explosion: A powerful stellar event temporarily illuminates the entire map, revealing hidden enemies and providing a strategic opportunity.

• Mini Black Hole (Overscope): While conceptually interesting, a mini black hole was considered too ambitious for the quick day prototype.

Enemy Types (Adjusted for Stealth Gameplay):

• Superior Enemies: These foes prioritize tracking and can withstand several hits. Their tracking durations vary.

• Inferior Enemies: Weaker and easier to track, providing opportunities to score quick kills.

Player Ship:

The player ship retains basic controls for movement, firing, shielding, and sonar scan. The focus is on using sonar strategically and managing stealth to overcome enemies.

Current Progress:

I’m currently working on implementing the core mechanics of the Space Hunter prototype, focusing on:

• Spaceship movement and controls

• Limited-range sonar functionality with visual effects

• Basic enemy AI with chase behavior and attacks

• Shield mechanics

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my game dev journey! Stay tuned for more updates. 🚀✨